In a sport where last-minute course changes are necessitated by grizzly bear activity and snow pack, mountain running takes the cake when it comes to being hard core. Perhaps as a result of its extreme nature, it has remained on the fringe of the professional running scene. In fact, elite mountain running has been aligned more closely with mountain biking or alpine skiing than road or track running. As a result, a mountain runner’s quads look more like a weight lifter’s than a Kenyan’s. To be sure, mountain running is a whole different animal and so are the runners who take on the altitudinal challenges.

On September 5, the U.S. Mountain Running Team (USMRT) will be racing in Kamnik, Slovenia, for the World Mountain Running Championships. Having fielded their most competitive team to date, the men’s, women’s and juniors squads all have chances to medal as they represent for the first time in official USA uniforms.

While the first World Mountain Running Championship took place in 1985, the U.S. didn’t field a full men’s team until 1990. It was in 1995 that the U.S. women first made their debut. In the beginning, there were no qualifying races to make the team and little to no funding to send them to the championship races.

“We’ve made huge strides since 1995,” says Nancy Hobbs, executive director of the American Trail Running Association and a runner on that first women’s team. The first U.S. team to medal, the women took bronze in 2004. By 2006 and 2007, the women’s team snagged the gold medals two consecutive years. The men followed suit by winning a bronze in 2008, and the women did the same in 2009.

As the teams have produced more medals, the sponsors have responded. Although placed under the USATF governing body in 1998, Teva became the team’s most important financial backer. Just this year, Teva ceased to make the shoes that the team advertised, thus leaving the USMRT without a major sponsor. Just in time, USATF stepped in and has helped to fund the team and provide them with uniforms for this year’s world championships. “Nationally there has been a surge in mountain running and trail running, which has made us mo

re visible,” explains Hobbs. “USATF is seeing that we’re bringing some revenue into the sport.”

Some of the runners also have individual shoe contracts. Three-time team member Brandy Erholtz is an “outdoor ambassador” for New Balance. Rickey Gates (pictured, right), who will be competing in his fifth world championship, is sponsored by Salomon and Rudy Project. Erholtz is a teacher and Gates works as a restaurant server, proving that sponsorships have not reached the level of the top road and track runners. Sans big time contracts, the mountain runners remain grateful to be running at the elite level during a time when the sport is growing in the U.S. by leaps and bounds.

2010 World Championships

As mountain running has begun to attract more of a following, Hobbs and company hope the race in Slovenia will begin to draw more interest. “The world championships are the Olympics of our sport,” she explains. While previous years have featured two to four qualifying races to make the worlds team, this year they held a single qualifying race at Mount Washington. “With Mount Washington having its 50th anniversary this year, they doubled their prize money and offered really great support to the top level competitors. It was a trial to see how it would work to have one selection race,” says Hobbs.

Although Mount Washington didn’t go as well for Erholtz as she had hoped, Erholtz says she liked having one selection race. “It forced us all to plan our summer. We all had to be together and in top form. It’s the nature of sports,” she says. The focus has paid off, as Erholtz won the Mayrhofen WMRA in Austria and the Pikes Peak Ascent in August. Team USA won both the men’s and women’s team divisions of the WRMA Long Distance Challenge, which was hosted this year by the Pikes Peak Ascent.

In addition to a juniors team, four women and six men were selected to travel to Slovenia to compete. The team members come from all walks of the running community. While Gates grew up in Aspen, Colo., where mountain running was the only type of running available, Erholtz was raised on the tracks and roads of Minnesota. After a fruitless battle to obtain the Olympic trials marathon qualifier, she found her niche in mountain running. Joe Grey was a steeplechaser in college and Chris Lundstrom is a former member of the elite Team USA Minnesota. Kristin Price is a mid-2:30s marathoner who is a first timer on the worlds team.

Favoring a team that hails from many backgrounds, mountain running is of the more unpredictable types of racing. Because the championships alternate between “uphill” years, such as this year, and “up-down” years on looped courses, it is difficult to predict who will come out on top at any given championship. The senior men race between 12 and 13K, the senior women and junior men between 8.5 and 9K, and the junior women between 4.4 and 4.6K.

On the senior women’s side, Erholtz says, “It’s realistic to think that if we all run well, we could end up with a gold medal.” After Italy took the top-three individual spots last year, they cannot be discounted. The Austrians, led by Andrea Mayer and the Czech team with Anna Pichrtova are also strong contenders. “I think our women are a gold-medal squad,” says Hobbs.

“As an individual, I’d really like to crack the top 10 and I don’t think that’s out of reach,” says Gates. “All of the other senior men absolutely have a chance at either the top 10 or 20.” Italy is unequivocally the team to beat on the men’s side, having only left with less than gold once in the last 25 years. Turkey, Germany and Eritrea will also be teams to watch. Six-time world champion Jonathan Wyatt of New Zealand hopes to snag an seventh win; however, Gates says, “He’s going to be hard pressed to get another one.”

An Uphill Climb

“We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go,” says Hobbs. Having spent 25 years of her career working to further the sport, her passion for mountain running is undeniable. “We’re slowly making our way up the mountain, but we’re no where near the summit,” she laughs.

Both Erholtz and Gates think that the overall times may drive away many road and track runners from trying mountain running. A 7:50-per mile pace sounds slow until they get on the trail and start climbing. “I think there are a lot of people out there that don’t even know they would be good mountain runners because they haven’t had the opportunity to run on a mountain course,” says Erholtz. Some even discover they are better at climbs than flats, like Erholtz did.

“Sometimes the road racers come out and get beat really bad,” says Gates, “I always hope they give it a second shot. It’s more a matter of training than anything else.”

Despite their varied running backgrounds, one thing the mountain runners share is a mutual love for the mountains. “We get to run in some amazingly beautiful places; that’s half the joy,” says Erholtz. Gates agrees, saying, “I love being in the mountains. I’d be doing this stuff whether there were races or not.”

Gnarly terrain, steep and technical downhills and lung-busting altitude gains breed fearlessness within the mountain runners. Donning bona fide USA singlets for this year’s world championships, Erholtz, Gates and the rest of the stateside squad hope to continue their uphill climb to bring their sport into the mainstream.